This invention relates to hermetically sealed containers and, more particularly, to a dispensing container with a nozzle that includes a sealing bead.
Hermetically sealed containers with luer tapered dispensing nozzles adapted to receive the hub of a hyperdermic needle assembly are known in the art. See, for example, FIG. 11 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,314 to Weiler which discloses a male luer connector adapted to receive the female hub of a hyperdermic needle. Internal threads in the connector engage lugs on the hub of the needle for securing the needle to the nozzle.
Although the connector shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,314 has proven useful, a separate insert is required to provide the connector feature.
Hermetically sealed containers produced by the so-called blow/fill/seal techniques such as, for example, the blow/fill/seal techniques shown and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,763 to Weiler have gained widespread acceptance in the pharmaceutical field. Such containers are formed between cooperating molds that are closed around an extended length of a parison. This fabrication process, while efficient, necessarily results in a finished container with a mold seam or parting line.
The presence of such a seam on a dispensing nozzle is disadvantageous in applications where it is desired to mount a dispensing needle or spike on the nozzle because the seam may create a gap between mating surfaces through which liquid contents of the container can leak during the dispensing operation. It would thus also be desirable to provide a container with an improved nozzle that provides a liquid seal in the region of the mold seam. The present invention provides such an improved nozzle on a dispensing container.
A hermetically sealed, molded thermoplastic dispensing container embodying the present invention includes a nozzle unitary with the container, which nozzle defines a dispensing aperture. A removable closure unitary with the nozzle occludes the aperture, and a resilient annular bead about the periphery of the nozzle, unitary therewith and spaced from the aperture, provides a liquid seal for a dispensing needle or spike mounted thereto.
The nozzle is sized to receive a hub of a dispensing assembly such as, for example, a hypodermic needle assembly, in a mating relationship therewith. The annular bead provides a liquid seal between the hub and the nozzle.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the resilient bead has substantially a fin-like or triangular cross-section and includes spaced-apart upper and lower surfaces which extend radially outwardly from the outer surface of the nozzle at an obtuse angle and converge to an edge.
In one embodiment, the obtuse angle between the outer surface of the nozzle and the upper surface of the bead is approximately 120 degrees while the obtuse angle between the outer surface of the nozzle and the lower surface of the bead is approximately 135 degrees.
Other suitable bead embodiments are, for example, a bead where the lower surface of the bead extends radially outwardly from the outer surface of the nozzle substantially normal to the nozzle surface and the upper surface of the bead extends radially outwardly from the outer surface of the nozzle at an obtuse angle. The present invention also contemplates embodiments where the bead is syncline or rounded.
A container including the present features can be made by a method which includes the steps of extending a parison segment between main molds and seal molds, respectively, where the seal molds include a groove conforming to the shape of the bead and a vacuum passage which extends from the groove through the seal molds and closing the main molds to form a body portion of the container and then filling the body portion with a liquid. Next, the seal molds are closed to form the nozzle and seal the container. A vacuum is created through the passage and the groove in the seal molds to pull a portion of the parison into the groove and form the bead during the sealing operation.
Numerous other advantages and features of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description of the invention, from the claims, and from the accompanying drawings.